Run Away from Home
by Nickila Scotcio
Summary: Eight year old Steven ran away two weeks ago after overhearing the Gems wishing they had Rose back. Story set a few years before the first episode. Long drabble/short one-shot.


**Howdy all! It's been a while since I've written anything. I just lost motivation for the last story I was working on. I'm going to put it on a hiatus, probably perminatly. Sorry to all those who were reading it.  
**

 **Anyway, I'm absolutely in love with Steven Universe. I think it's the cutest, deepest cartoon I've seen yet. I just had this idea pop up in my head and had the urge to write this little blurb. It starts a few years before the first episode. Enjoy guys!**

* * *

Steven stood apprehensive at his front door. His face was covered in dirt and had a few scratches here and there. His shirt was torn and was so dirty it was beyond recognition. His jeans were ripped and had patches of dirt on them that would never come out in the wash. He wore no shoes, his hair was greasy and tangled, and overall he smelled foul.

Steven looked like a homeless runaway. Because that's exactly what Steven was right now. A homeless boy who was on the run from the Crystal Gems.

He had overheard them talking before he ran away. In fact, he was standing in this exact spot before he decided to run.

* * *

 _-Flashback-_

 _Today was Steven's 8th birthday. He'd spent most of his day with Greg, much to the insistence of the Gems. He and his dad spent the day playing kazoo racers, Greg bought him doughnuts and fry bits, and then Greg surprised his son with a birthday cake. It was a perfect day for Steven._

 _Steven ran up the steps of his house. He couldn't wait to tell the Gems about his time with his dad. He reached the porch of his house and almost ripped open the screen door when he heard something. It sounded like a sigh. Quickly he hid himself against the outside wall and listened through the screen on the door._

 _"It's just," That was Pearl's voice, "I miss her so much sometimes. It's unbearable."_

 _"Yo!" That was Amethyst. "I miss her too! Don't pretend it's only you who cares."_

 _"We all miss Rose," Definitely Garnet's voice, "This isn't a competition."_

 _"You're right." Pearl sighed._

 _"We need her so bad." Amethyst sounded defeated. "We need her to tell us what to do."_

 _"I miss her guidance. I wish she were here." Pearl said in a sullen tone._

 _Steven heard enough. They missed his mom. They wanted his mom. They didn't want him. They wanted his mom to be there instead. And why not? She was powerful, beautiful, and smart. He was just Steven. He couldn't even summon his weapon. His mom was a true leader, and he was just some dumb kid._

 _Steven felt tears form. With the logic of an 8 year old, he figured that he would never be a Crystal Gem, he would never summon his weapon, and the Crystal Gems wanted nothing to do with him._

 _He decided in that moment that he would run away. He would make their lives better by not being a liability to them anymore. Maybe, he thought, if I leave, mom will come back, and everything will be all better for Garnet Amethyst and Pearl._

 _Thinking his spontaneous plan was going to make the Gems happy, he ran down the steps of his house and walked back into beach city. He thought about going to his dad, but quickly realized that there was a chance his dad would bring him back to the Gems, making them sad he wasn't his mom. If that didn't happen, he was sure that if the Gems missed his mom so much, his dad must be missing her even worse._

 _With all of that in mind, Steven gave himself a sad smile, thinking that even though no one loved him, he could at least make them all happy. He didn't realize how wrong he was as he walked passed the "Now Leaving Beach City" sign._

 _What he didn't hear was Garnet saying how she wouldn't trade Steven for a million Rose's. How Pearl loved Steven to pieces, and how Amethyst absolutely adored her number one fan._

 _They all agreed that even though they missed Rose, they couldn't imagine life without their little Steven._

* * *

That was two weeks ago. Two long, stressful, terrifying weeks for Greg and the Gems. Their baby boy was missing and none of them had any idea if he ran away or was kidnapped or got hurt. They all blamed themselves for losing him.

Greg spent all of his time making flyers for his missing son. He posted them everywhere he could and handed them out to anyone he saw. When the Gems came to him the day of Steven's disappearance, asking Greg where Steven was, he told them that Steven left for home 5 hours earlier. He felt the blood drain out of his face when he got a confused look and a "he never came home" response.

Greg and the Gems immediately split up and searched the entirety of Beach City for Steven. They all looked high and low, and a few hours later, when they all turned up empty handed, Greg immediately went to the police, a million possibilities of his son's whereabouts flashing in his mind. He filed a missing person's report and was reassured he would be the first to know if they found anything.

Greg barely slept since then. He would work for a few hours, then spend the rest of his time searching for his beloved son. He touched base with the gems every night, and every time he was bitterly disappointed to find they had nothing.

Pearl took Steven's disappearance especially hard. Contrary to everyone's belief, Pearl fell in love with Steven the minute she laid eyes on his tiny body. She saw this little bundle as a blessing from Rose, and the moment he smiled at her Pearl melted. She hardly left his side since she first met him. She took care of him since day one like a mother, and felt incredibly honored that someone could look up to her and love her like Steven did.

Once she and the Gems discovered he was missing, she did nothing but relentlessly search for her baby boy. She never gave herself a moments rest as she search thoroughly through Beach City and the surrounding area. It had gotten to a point where Pearl began thinking irrationally and acting out on impulse, making rash decisions and crying uncontrollably. Garnet had to force the crazed Pearl to take a break for a while after that. She only took about an hour's worth of rest when she slipped away from Garnet's watchful gaze to continue her search for her baby.

Amethyst was almost on the same level as Pearl. She searched all the spots she knew Steven frequented, but she never found the 8 year old at any of them. She asked the workers in the big doughnut, the fry shop, and at the pizza shop if anyone had seen the little gem. All of them said no and wished the best on finding Steven. She searched the beach, the lighthouse, and boardwalk for Steven.

Nothing.

Eventually Amethyst would get so frustrated that he wasn't found. She would take her rage and destroy everything she laid eyes on in her room. She didn't care about the mess, in fact she loved the mess, and she found this to be an excellent way to let out her frustrations. She was aggravated that she couldn't find her best friend, her number one fan, her Steven. She fell into her routine of search, destroy, search, destroy.

Out of all three of them, Garnet was the most stressed. Between finding Steven, watching Pearl carefully, calming Amethyst down, reassuring Greg and herself, and on top of all of that, going on missions, she didn't have time to be irrational. Despite everything else, missions still had to be done, and Garnet had to do them. Pearl absolutely refused to do anything besides finding Steven and Amethyst was too emotionally unstable to go on missions.

Tirelessly, Garnet would use her future vision to try and find Steven, but because of all the stress she had very little luck, and only saw the absolute worst case scenarios. Eventually, after many tries with future vision, Garnet gave up on using it, as she didn't want to see what she believed now was the inevitable. She wanted to believe there was a happy outcome for their Steven.

Regardless of all their efforts, Steven was still missing two weeks after the search began. Everyone was tired and stressed, and everyone wanted Steven to come home safe.

Of course, Steven didn't know this. He thought the gems and Greg were happy he was finally gone. He was sure that with him gone, his mom could come back from wherever she was and be with all of them. He didn't want to make the gems and Greg sad by coming back home. He stood on his porch here, two weeks later, dirty and sad, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to go inside.

He really didn't want to be here, but he just got so hungry and he missed his bed and his home. He missed the gems and his dad fiercely, but he was sure they didn't love him, that they wanted his mom instead of him, and that they were happier without him around.

He didn't care that he was sad and lonely, he only cared about the happiness of those he loved.

That's why he felt very confused when he was standing exactly where he was two weeks ago. He heard someone crying through the screen on the door. More specifically, 3 gems crying. But, why were they crying? Didn't they want Rose back? Weren't they happy he wasn't holding them back anymore? That they were free of him?

"Where's our baby?!" Pearl cried out, before she continued sobbing.

"We'll find him P, I know we will." Amethyst sounded like she was reassuring herself more than she was reassuring Pearl.

Steven felt his heart constrict. They were looking for him? They were sad he was gone? But, why? He wasn't Rose, didn't they want Rose?

"I just want my baby boy back!" Pearl wailed, tears and snot running down her face as she uncontrollably sobbed.

"We all do Pearl," Garnet's stoic voice cracked a little. "We'll find him. We have too." She didn't sound very sure about that.

Steven had heard enough. He messed this one up, big time. He felt guilty tears flow down his cheeks. He was sure he was going to be in big trouble for this one. He was always taught to make people happy, not sad. And that's exactly what he did. He made all the gems sad, and that made him a bad kid, and bad kids get grounded and put on time out.

His thoughts quickly transitioned to how guilty he felt for making the gems so sad. It was his fault they were this upset. He loved them to bits, like they were all his mom, and he just turned his back on them like that. He didn't deserve moms as good as they were. He deserved to be grounded for a thousand years for hurting them so bad.

He quickly rubbed his eyes and nose. It didn't do much good, tears kept flowing anyway. He took a deep, shaky breath before opening the screen door and stepping inside his warm house.

The gems stared at the little boy in shock. Everything was absolutely silent. The gems didn't dare breathe or speak, afraid that this wasn't real, as if Steven wasn't really in front of them.

Steven tried his best to not look upset. His body betrayed him however, as he felt his lower lip quiver and fat tears begin to fall.

"I'm sorry." He barely whispered, feeling ashamed to have hurt the gems this much.

It was enough proof for the gems. They all immediately enveloped Steven in a tight hug, as if they were afraid he would disappear right then and there. All four of them were there on the floor, embracing and crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I thought you didn't want me-"

"Don't you dare think we want anyone but **you,** Steven." Garnet cut him off.

"Yeah bud!" Amethyst added, "You're the only one we want."

"But," Steven sniffled, "I heard you guys saying you missed mom."

"Oh Steven!" Pearl cried. "Yes, we do miss Rose, but not nearly as much as we love you."

Steven felt even guiltier now. He held the gems as tight as his little muscles would allow. "Please don't be mad at me for running away…"

"We would never be mad Steven." Garnet reassured him. "We're just happy you're back safe."

They stayed there on the floor huddled together, enjoying the moment together and happy to be together once again. Eventually the hug broke up (except for Pearl, she refused to let Steven go for some time after) and Amethyst went to the door.

"I'm gonna tell Greg the good news, I'll be right back." She said. She ran out the door after the nod of approval from Garnet.

Pearl forced herself to stop hugging Steven, and held him from his shoulders.

"Let me make sure you're alright." She said looking him over. "Well, you definitely need a bath, you're gem looks fine…" Steven's stomach growled.

"I'm guessing you're hungry." Garnet said. Steven nodded tearfully.

"Alright." Pearl said. "Go wash up. By the time you're done I'll have dinner ready for you. Alright?"

Steven nodded again. "Thank you." He said, feeling the last of his tears fall. Pearl hugged him tightly once more, then got up.

"I love you Steven."

"We all do." Garnet piped in.

Steven smiled, never feeling so loved before in his life.


End file.
